That Boy will Eat Anything...

...is a direct quote from my father about my brother some years ago. I'm not sure what the exact situation was that provoked the statement, but I've seen Cletus eat a wad of fish bait and on a separate occassion, a 2-inch long green, hairy caterpillar--so--I know it's true. And those were both with him at an age where he should have known better! But that's not the point of this post...

The point is...the same can be said for Sulley, our older cat. He's just celebrated his 8th birthday.
He came to us as a pampered kitty from a family that was allegedly moving to Canada. We got him (and Kenny) through a rescue agency in London.

He loves to eat all kinds of meat, cheese, ice cream, crisps [chips for the US folk]--such as Doritos, Hula Hoops, salt & vinegar--anything! He'll also eat potatoes, Cheerios, bananas, and the list goes on.

As a result of all the past history and my experiments on what he will and won't eat, he doesn't have good table manners. He's too old now for me to try to reform the poor chap. It's not like he's a 100 pound slobbering dog begging for food at every meal. He's just a sweet-faced cuddle bug, who...must be hungry! :)

Here's a snapshot of Sulley getting his fair share of Hula Hoops. It's a form of entertainment at our house...


And here's another snap of his sweet little face...just for fun. With a little blonde devil trying to have some sympathy for the Sulley boy.

STAYcation 2009 - Week 2

Week 2 of the Staycation got off to a slow start. On Monday and Tuesday, I had to work. Nonetheless, we managed to go see G-Force, the guinea pig spy movie in 3D on Monday evening. I don't like the 3D movies myself, generally, I end up feeling nauseous, and to combat that, close my eyes and sometimes go to sleep. Not this time, though. I did feel a little woozy, but nothing to major.
Tuesday, Paulster and the munchkins went to the London Zoo without me.
Here are a few shots courtesy of Drama and Blondie:




We met up for dinner at Pizza Express in Ruislip. This is where I've got the manager collecting my corks for the unfinished cork board...

So finally, it was Wednesday and we were off for a big day in London. We had a tour of the Houses of Parliament scheduled for 2pm. It was really cool to see where the hustle and bustle takes place. The system is much like the US system, in that there are (now) three branches, the Legislature (the newest to be established in the UK), the House of Lords (some seats are STILL hereditary) and the House of Commons (your friendly MP--Minister of Parliament).


We started the tour in Westminster Hall--which is the oldest surviving part of the original Westminster Palace and boasts the largest timber roof structure in Northern Europe. Apparently, there's one larger in Padova, Italy.
Here's a picture of the details, and of the room.




Our tour had 21 other people in it and our tour guide was Sarah. She did a really nice job and tried to cater for the kids. Mollie volunteered to be "Black Rod"--who is the one who summons the House of Commons for the Queen. When she comes to open Parliament once per year, there is the requisite amount of pomp and circumstance. Thing is...she's not allowed to go to the House of Commons. She can only go so far as her ante-chamber where she puts on the State Crown and heads in to the House of Lords to sit on her throne of REAL gold! It's amazing. Of course, no pictures of the interior allowed...sadly.

The exterior had a cool fountain/sculpture thing that was fairly modern.


And no tour photo is complete without the tourists.


After our little tour, we were a bit peckish [hungry]. So we wandered over to La Tasca, one of regular haunts for some Spanish Tapas. Not sure how the girls woudl react, although we know they like Chorizo, since we cook it at home...
They opted to order from the kids menu, only to be told (after mine and Paulster's food had been delivered to the table) that they didn't have the selections that the kids ordered.
So, they braved it and ordered some "adult" selections. Bravo. One more place we can all go eat and be happy!

Once we ate dinner, we were off to the final event of the day...a West-End production of Mama Mia! And it was fab. The girls loved it, we loved it. Fantastic signing, dancing, lycra, disco balls all set to the music of ABBA! Wonderful. A late night trip home on the tube and that was Wednesday done.

Thursday was a day to get up early. We converted the dining room into our very own Beauty Shop. Ms. D, my hairdresser came to the house and there were haircuts for all the girls and a little colour for Cyn. Nothing drastic, just getting it all turned back to one colour...the ends had gotten a bit too sun-bleached, deviating a little too much from the "real" colour. The colour was so not dramatic that Paulster didn't even know that it had changed. Also, no one at work except Banana spotted the difference. Subtlety is the key!
Here's a picture of Drama once we put some hot rollers in her hair after the haircut.

She'll be auditioning for the role of Tracey Turnblad in Hairspray in a few years!

Nanny D arrived on Thursday evening to join us for the Staycation.
Friday was our Royal Day Out. We toured the Queen's Gallery, the Royal Mews and the State Rooms of Buckingham Palace. The State Rooms are only open for about 6 weeks during the summer. And they are definitely worth the wait. The special exhibit on display this year is of the gifts and clothing from the Queen's Very First State Visit after she assumed the throne. The clothing was spectacular. It was a bit crowded, but most people were using the audio guide, so it kept things moving along.

At the end of the State Rooms, you have to walk about a half mile through the gardens and out of the property. We played the "we have an elderly person in the party" card and got a special ride in a large golf cart out to the front of Buckingham Palace. It was kind of fun. Nanny waved at the crowd as if she were the Queen herself coming out to say Hello!
Here are a few shots of our Day Out.




We finished the Royal Day Out with a trip to the Royal Mews. This is where all the horses used for royal events are housed and trained as well as all of the Royal Carriages and the limosines (2 Bentleys and 2 Rolls Royces). There are several of the carriages that are used regularly. The main one is ridiculously large and gold and even getting it out of it's holding tank is quite the ordeal.


This little sleigh was nice. It's used every year for Santa to meet the kids and hand out gifts.


And that was pretty much the Staycation. With one last bit...
The girls were inspired by our touring so they wanted to create a tour of their own. Using their creativity, lots of paper and colours and cellotape [scotch tape], they created an art museum in Blondie's room. The ticket office was Drama's room and the gift shop was in Nanny's room. Nanny, Me and Paulster had to queue [line] up and move in an orderly fashion into the ticket booth where a "machine" (Blondie in the window sill with a box on her head) spit out the tickets once you "scanned" your ticket. Then we moved into the museum so see all of the art work on display.

Pretty creative, those two. Glad to see that we haven't managed to smash their imaginations just yet!

We spent the last couple of days just Freelaxing at home.

What is the Deal???

So, I knew moving to suburbia would have its downsides--which, in honesty have been very few. But I was reminded of one a couple of Saturdays ago.
We didn't have the kids that Saturday, so sleeping until (at least) noon was very much the plan.
When the doorbell rang just shy of 11am, I hopped up remembering that I had placed an Amazon order the day before. By the time I was half way down the stairs, I remembered that my Amazon items were being delivered to the office...so who the heck was at the door?

Maybe it was the next door neighbour kids who threw yet another football into our yard wanting it repatriated. Nope. Jehovah's Witnesses.
Not two young, attractive young men in suits on bikes with narrow black ties--but two old ladies, wanting me to discuss my beliefs with them. All credit to them, they had some very leading questions that...were I not better practiced at the art of avoiding religious discussion, I may have fallen for it. Back to bed I scampered.

Not 15 minutes later, another ring of the doorbell. Who could it be this time? Maybe this time it's the neighbour kid. Nope. Window & Siding Salesman.
Man...what gives?!

If I want to seek out Jesus, I'll go to church. If I want to buy new windows or replace my garage door with vinyl siding--I've got people for that. LEAVE ME ALONE!

Still Unfinished...

eBay didn't work out. I was outbid on 3 lots of used corks. Back to the drawing board--or should I say...unfinished cork board?!

Another Un-Finished Project...

Well, we've been living in the house now for a little over a year. The living room and dining room still have bare floorboards, no paint on the walls and make-shift curtains. The kitchen ceiling needs a bit of repair work and a final coat of paint...as well as the floor sealed before the Travertine completely disintegrates. The list could go on...but it would only depress me.

On to the point of my story...I've been collecting wine corks for many years. I can't really remember when it started. But there are clues in the collection that tell me it's been at least 12 years. I'm not sure, either, why I thought it was a good idea to start collecting them, except that I like the unique ones, funny named wine, or a cork that commemorates a special night out with friends. I always intended to "do" something with them. So, having now amassed 3 giant ziploc bags full of corks, I set about creating my own personal cork board. The intent is to artfully arrange the corks onto a board with hot glue, frame it and hang it on the kitchen wall as a place to hang our calendar and other important bits of information. Mostly take-away menus.

So, here I went...decided what size frame would be good for the space (FYI, 1 metre tall by .6 metres wide--which is roughly 3 feet tall by 2 feet wide), had it made at the frame shop in town, got my hot glue gun out and started sticking.
Here are a few shots of my project spread out on the island in the kitchen.




Given the title of the blog, you will have surmised that something went dreadfully wrong with my little project.
Turns out, that even though I'm a wino, my extensive collection of corks wasn't enough. I ran out before I go the entire board covered--maybe two-thirds full. It's fair to say that I didn't really plan it out--as Paulster was quick to point out. But geez. It seemed like so many corks--am I sure that I didn't misplace a baggie of corks?! Maybe I should check the garage again...

So, plan B. I have asked our favourite pizza restaurant in town to collect theirs for me and call me when they have a critical mass--that was 4 days ago. And a back-up to the back-up--which may actually see me overrun with corks is ebay. You really can buy just about anything there. I'm currently bidding on 2 sets of corks (less than 20 hours to go on both bids!) that should give me enough to complete the project. Fingers crossed that I don't get outbid. I'm a bit of a ebay retard, so just figuring out how to find my list of stuff I've bid on has been a challenge!

I'll let you know how it goes. When it's finished and hanging on the wall, I'll post photos of a few of my favourite corks and any associated stories that are blog-worthy. Could be years from now...

And before you ask...Yes, I will gratefully accept your donations of corks should you have a handful laying around! They're light, so postage to (or within) the UK will be fairly cheap!

STAYcation 2009 - Week 1

This year, for a variety of reasons, we decided not to take a big vacation trip with the girls, so instead of travelling abroad, we decided to enjoy the fact that we live in Greater London. Apparently, this is a common phenomenon this year that has been coined a "staycation."

The girls arrived on Sunday and we did a little demolition in the garden to make way for more grass, less shrubbery. I have to say that Sulley is not impressed to see his hidey hole levelled, but he'll adjust.
Here are a few shots of Paulster and his little helpers, Drama and Blondie:




On Monday, we had a lazy day of lounging around the house, watching movies, napping, etc. our staycation was off to a flying start!
And no staycation can start without dessert...Blondie and Drama helped me make a Victoria Sponge cake on our lazy first day.


On Tuesday, we rolled the dice on the weather and headed out early to Legoland in Windsor. It wasn't nearly as crowded as I expected it to be and the sun came out to make it a lovely day.
Blondie braved the Log Flume and we all rode the Dragon ride twice. We were really tired by the end of the day and slept well.
Here are a few shots:








As the name suggests, nearly everything is made of Legos--dragons, life-size people in the park, mini-cities...spectacular.







A great day at Legoland! We always enjoy it, but it made me want to find a more adult-oriented theme park to get on some big rides!


Wednesday was a very long day. We started early by going on a tour of The Globe--which was really cool. Blondie had been wanting to go visit all year, since she studied about it in school. The pictures are sub-standard, because we were nearly to the tube station when I realised I've left my new camera at the house. We decided to use the mobile phone for pics on this day instead of going back for it.

We got there early, because on days when there's a matinee show, if you don't hustle...no tour...turns out this was a day for re-setting to Helen of Troy. Here's a pic of the stage being re-set.


And a shot of the actors just before they started rehearsing (when cameras are forbidden!)




After The Globe tour, we had pizza for lunch and then we were off to the London Aquarium. It's been re-done recently. They had a great collection of Sea Horses and of course...sharks. My personal favourite was the piranha tank.

By the end of the time at the Aquarium, Blondie and I had managed to get separated from Drama and Paulster...and, we needed a break, so off we went to the nearby Starbucks for a Caramel Frap (lite, of course). That's where they found us a little while later.

After our rest, we went shopping a bit and then made our way to a pub where several of Paulster's colleagues were gathering to "celebrate" their leaving the company en masse. Seems to be a bit of an epidemic for our company lately...

We were late getting home that night (see photos of Drama below--fell asleep and therefore, was subjected to our entertainment on the tube ride home)... so we decided to early mornings in a row deserved a lie in [sleep in].





On Thursday, we had brunch and then went shopping to get the girls some new dresses and bits and pieces. On Friday, we amped it up gently with another lie in and then off to Richmond for a trip down memory lane. We went for a swim at the pool where we used to go all the time. They have a great slide and turn on the waves periodically! The pool was surprisingly empty for a summer afternoon...but it could have something to do with the renovation going on in there. We discovered that if we'd waited until the next summer holiday week to go swimming, we'd have been stuck. The pool will be under renovation during that time! Whew!
After swimming, we went into Richmond by the river and ate at Tootsies...one of our favourite restaurants. Several of you who visited in Richmond will recall dining at Tootsies with us!



Another late night of tube riding...this time, none of our party fell asleep on the tube journey, so we played I-spy (or is it Eye-Spy?) for entertainment...

And that was the first week of our Staycation...gone in the blink of an eye. Our second week of staycation will be later in August!